


Wrong Keys

by e_cat



Series: Accidental First Meetings [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Mistakes, Nico is a good friend, One Night Stands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 00:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3589047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_cat/pseuds/e_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason made a big mistake. Instead of facing the consequences, he calls Nico to help him. It ends up working out pretty well for Nico.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wrong Keys

**Author's Note:**

> Characters belong to Rick Riordan.
> 
> This was fun. I had a lot of ideas about how I wanted to construct the concept, but I like the way it worked out. Mostly.

When he woke up, Nico had the urge to throw his phone at the wall. He probably would have, too, if it hadn’t been Jason calling, and if his father hadn’t told him that next time he broke a phone in that manner, he wasn’t getting another one. Nico wouldn’t have really cared about that, either, but he found that texting was an easier way to get Hazel off his back about trying to have friends than actually going out and seeing them.

Nico answered the phone and growled, “What do you want, Jason?”

“Did I wake you up?” Jason asked worriedly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Nico sighed, suspecting that his friend was stalling. “Of course you woke me up. It’s –” Nico picked up the clock and grimaced at it. “8:17 in the morning. Why are you calling?”

“I, uh, called to ask you a favor, actually.”

Nico almost laughed. “You probably should have started by letting me sleep in.”

“Yeah… Oops,” Jason said awkwardly. Nico waited for him to ask his favor, but the phone remained silent.

Nico got to his feet, sighing again. “What’s going on, Jason? Get to it already?”

Jason cleared his throat. “I, um, I did something stupid.”

“That’s nothing new,” Nico muttered.

“Right,” Jason agreed; he knew better than to argue with Nico when he had woken him up and was asking him a favor on top of that.

“What did you do?” Nico held onto the phone with his shoulder and began looking through his clothes for something to wear. He should have done his laundry yesterday; he didn’t like any of the shirts that were still clean.

“Well, I, uh… I may have had a one-night-stand last night.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Okay. And this is causing you some sort of crisis? Why? Because you like that one girl in your World History class? What’s her name – Penny?”

Jason groaned. “Piper. I wasn’t even thinking about that! I mean, we’ve compared notes a couple of times, but she barely knows I exist, you know? At least, I think she doesn’t. I don’t know. Maybe I should try asking her out. But then again, maybe we should just be friends first. What do you think?”

Nico sighed. He picked up a shirt that seemed somewhat acceptable, made a face, and put it back. “We’ve been over this, Jason. Quit being a baby, and just ask her out already. Now, why are you calling me?”

Jason chuckled. Nico could just see him rubbing the back of his head with shame. “Right. Um, well, you see… I kind, sort of, well –”

“Spit it out already,” Nico demanded. He found a shirt he actually kind of liked in the back of the closet, and tossed it onto the bed. He began searching for some jeans to pair it with.

Jason’s words came tumbling out in a rush: “I took the wrong keys when I left this morning.”

Nico dropped the phone in surprise. Then he started laughing. “Nico!” He heard Jason say through the phone on the ground. “It’s not funny! Come on! This is serious!”

Nico scrambled to pick up the phone, struggling to suppress his laughter. “Oh my God! Are you serious? How did you manage that?”

Jason groaned. “I was in a bit of a hurry, okay? I was trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. I grabbed the wrong jacket.”

“The wrong jacket?” Nico asked. “Not even just the wrong keys? You grabbed the wrong fucking _jacket!_ I mean, seriously, Jason – I don’t think even Percy’s ever been so stupid!”

“That’s not fair!” Jason complained. “Percy’s never had a one-night-stand! And Annabeth thinks it’s cute when he acts like an idiot!”

Nico laughed and shook his head. He snatched a pair of torn black jeans with a flourish. He held the phone with his shoulder again and attempted to put them on. “Whatever,” he told Jason. “You’re still a moron. And you still haven’t told me what favor you’re asking of me?”

“Oh. Right. Um, well, I kind of need you to go get my keys for me?”

Nico almost dropped the phone again. “I’m sorry? What? Are you kidding me?”

“Please, Nico,” Jason begged. “I can’t go back there! Please, please, please!”

Nico made a face, even though Jason couldn’t see him. “Why me?”

“I can’t tell Percy or Leo or anyone! They’ll make fun of me relentlessly! Please, Nico? Can’t we just keep this between us? Please help me?”

Nico sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Really?” Jason sounded elated. “Oh my God! Thank you so much, Nico!”

“Where should I meet you? I can be ready in 5.”

“Huh? What?” Jason sounded confused.

Nico rolled his eyes. “You _are_ planning on returning her stuff, right?”

“Oh, right. Yeah. I probably should do that, huh?”

Nico frowned. “Jason, I want you to tell me: are you drunk right now?”

Jason laughed. “No! I mean, probably not… I did have a lot to drink last night.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’ll meet you for coffee in ten minutes.”

\----------------------------------- 

Nico scowled at the unfamiliar door. He picked at a loose thread on his jacket, anxiously considering his next move. Did he knock? He had a key, but it wasn’t his apartment, nor did he have any right to be there. What if no one answered the door? Should he go in anyways?

Nico made a face and decided to just start with knocking. It was only polite, after all. If no one was home, he could figure out his next move at that point. Nico took a deep breath and knocked.

He counted the seconds of silence as he waited. It wasn’t very long, but it felt like an eternity before the door opened, and Nico found himself staring up at a tall blonde guy.  
Nico, taken aback, stared at the guy. He looked down at his hand, where he’d written the apartment number. He looked back at the door. He was in the right building, wasn’t he? He didn’t remember Jason mention his one-night-stand involving a sexuality crisis.

“Um…” Nico held up the jacket.

The blonde guy nodded, understanding flickering across his face. He examined Nico thoroughly, as if appraising him. He nodded again, more slowly this time. “Reyna has good taste,” he concluded.

Nico wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or horrified. He was leaning more towards horrified, just from the thought of what his face must look like right now. “I, um, I didn’t sleep with… Reyna? I didn’t even know her name. My friend asked me to come back here for him.”

The guy laughed. “What a coward.”

Nico laughed as well. “Yeah, well, he was in such a hurry to get out that he grabbed the wrong jacket. I can’t imagine he was in a hurry to get back.”

The blonde nodded. “Right. Besides, Reyna ranted for an hour about it this morning. It was probably a safe decision not to come back.” He stepped aside and gestured for Nico to enter the apartment. “Come on. Your friend’s jacket is on the couch.”

“Thanks,” Nico said, squeezing into the apartment. He noticed that the other guy didn’t leave him a lot of space, but he was small enough that it wasn’t a problem.

“I’m Will, by the way,” the guy said. “Roommate of the girl your friend hooked up with last night.”

“Nico,” he replied with a smirk. “Friend of the guy who accidentally stole your roommate’s keys.” Will laughed. Nico picked up Jason’s jacket, which he didn’t think was at all easy to confuse with the jacket in his other hand. “Speaking of which,” Nico added, “where should I put these?”

Will was looking at him with a silly grin. After a minute, Nico cleared his throat. Will blushed. “Right. Right. You can just leave it on the couch. That’s where Reyna puts it half the time anyways.”

“So, uh, I guess that’s it?” Surprisingly, Nico didn’t want to leave. “I’ll see you next time Jason steals Reyna’s keys?”

Will snorted. “If your friend Jason steals Reyna’s keys again, you won’t have to worry about returning them – she’ll hunt him down.”

Nico smiled. “Well, okay then. I guess I’ll see you…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Probably with _never_ – he was never going to see Will again.

Will shuffled his feet nervously. “Hey, um, Nico,” he said. “Do you maybe want to hang out for a bit? I’d love to get some inside information on this guy Reyna hooked up with.”

Nico laughed. “Only if you tell me more about Reyna.” He dropped onto the couch, and Will sat beside him. Somehow, they ended up getting to know more about each other rather than their respective friends’ one-night-stand.


End file.
